Fastening device



Sept 11,1945- v G.A. TINNERMAN 2,384,508

FASTENING DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 2,123Y 1938 i l ni' A)NVE/wok. I

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Patented Sept. ll, 1945 FASTENING DEVICE George A. Tinnerman, Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to Tinnerman Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio (c1. ss-sz) 4 Claims.

The present application is a division of my co pending application, Serial No. 247,158, filed December 22, 1938, now Patent 2,346,712 issued April 18, 1944, which is a continuation in part of my Patent No. 2,222,449, issued November 19, 1940.

This invention relates to asheet metal nut and particularly to one which is adapted to be used in an assembly where it is necessary for the fastener to retain itselfin bolt receiving position prior to the insertion of the bolt. The invention is more particularly concerned with an improved self-locking nut having means formed as an integral part thereof to secure the nut to the structure with whichit engages.

An important purpose of the present invention is the provision of means formed as an integral part of the nut for securingit to the structure with which it contacts in such manner that it is not only xedly held in posi-tin, but that the perforation in the structure through which the nut attaching means passes is closed or sealed by the securing means. Fasteners for accomplishing this purpose are useful in many installations as for example in the automobile bodies, refrigerator cabinets, railway cars, airplanes, tanks, etc., where the parts are accessible from only one side and wherein there is an opening through which the fastener is partially passed so that the thread carrying portion may lie on the distant or blind side of the support while securing portion of the fastener lies on the fron-t side theretof. A very frequent location for such an assembly is the fender of an automobile body.

One of the features to which the present application is directed is the provision of lateral extensions on the rbase portion `of this integral fastener adapted to remain on the front side of the support and overlap the lateral margins about the opening through which the nut-carrying lportion of the integral lmember is passed. These extensions Ibeyond the side edges of the portion which is inserted in the opening insure against.v the entire fastener being inadvertently passed through the opening and lost in the interior of the device having the support. Such side extensions act with portions of the fasteners which overlap the ,longitudinal margins of the opening in the support to effect a very firm locking of the base against the support, effectively closing the opening.

may be mounted;l Fig. 3 is a plan of the fastening device of Fig. 1 on the support of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a cross section on line 4-4 oi' Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan of another form of my fastening device in place on a support; Fig. 6 is a cross section of the embodiment of Fig. 5 in a plane indicated by the line 6 6; Fig. '7 is a plan of a third embodiment of my fastening device in the line 8 8 on Fig. 7.

Referring to all of the figures, the fastener comprises a strip of sheet metal that is offset intermediate its ends as at I0 to provide a nutcarrying arm II that is disposed on one side of a supporting article I2, and to provide another arm I 3 that is'adapted to .engage the opposite side of the article I2. The arms II and I3 are disposed in approxi-mately parallel planes.

To hold the fastener securely in place upon an article, I prefer to utilize a tongue I 5 which lies substantially in the same plane as the anm I4 and which is formed from the arm yII '.by being struck downwardly therefrom. The tongue is spaced from the arm sumciently far to admit the article |12 and to make a snug fit therewith. VI'he cutting of the arm II to make the tongue 'I5 leaves a U-shaped opening in the ann and provides two connecting parts I6 and I'I. adjacent the offset'IIl. 4

The article I2 is shawn as having a bolt receiving aperture I8 and a fastener receiving aperture I9 therein. The aperture I9 serves as an opening through 'which the arm `I I may .be passed until the tongue I5 engages the under surface of the article. At such time, the aper- 22 wherefor the fastener is securely locked in My invention is hereinafter more fully described in connection with the drawing, which discloses several embodiments, all having the features ofthe base portion overlapping the lateral margins as well as the longitudinal margins of the support' about the opening through it.

position on the article I2 with the tongue I5 and Y part of the arm I3 Iunderlying one surface thereof.

At the two side edges of the arm 113, I provide lateral extensions shown as tabs 123 :where--` also cooperate with the `fore and aft or longitudinal extensions I3 and I5 to cause the ibase In the drawing, Fig. l is a plan of one' form of my fastening device; Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion -of a support on which the fastening device i 2,384,508 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE To assemble the fastener onto the article, the arm Il is passed upwardly"through the opening I i and is then tilted until that lportion of the article adjacent the wall 22 enters .the crotch formed by the'tongues I5, Il and l1, and thereupon the fastener is forced forwardly until the prongs snap into position against the wall 2|. At such time, the opening I 8 is in registration with the bolt receiving opening in the arm Il.

In mounting the fastener, the extensions 23 enable the fastener to be freely shoved inwardly through the opening I9, at an angle thereto, without danger of the whole fastener passing through the opening Abecause if the tongue Il passes into the opening the tabs will stop further progress of the fastener through the'opening.

The arm Il isadapted to carry bolt thread engaging means and so I have illustrated various forms for such purpose. In Figs. 1 to 4, the metal in the arm Il adjacent the bolt opening 25 is formed to engage a thread on a bolt indicated for example at 28. The bolt thread engaging portions may take the form of a split conical protuberance 26 wherein the portion adjacent the wall of the opening 25 is shaped to conform to the helix of the thread on the bolt with which the fastener is intended to be used. Additional engagement of the bolt threads may be madeby extending the end of the arm upwardly and inwardly to make an arm 30, the end of which is provided with a notch 3| and is likewise shaped as at 29 to conform to the helix of the bolt thread, but to engage a different turn from that engaged by the portion 26. The fastener has a thickness less than the pitch of the bolt thread and hence the thread engaging portions make contact readily with the bolt in an expeditious manner.

The thread engaging portion operates to lock the bolt thread securely in place and at the same time to permit removal of the bolt in the event that'the threads are stripped. In Fig. 4, for example, the shank of the bolt 28 is shown as pass; ing through an aperture I! in a part being attached and illustrates the bolt in the act of being threaded into engagement with the fastener. The fact that the arm does not completely encircle the bolt shank enables it to be withdrawn whenever desired, without disturbing the part to which the fastener is attached.

already described. The thread-carrying portion, however, is diiferent'in that the bolt thread engaging means comprises a nut 4,0 which is suitably threaded to receive the bolt and has its opening in registration with an opening 4I in the arm I I. The opening ll is the space left in the arm I I after the partially severed and' bent tongues I2 and 43 are formed therefrom. Ihe tongues 42 are iianged at their ends toward each other to overlap the top of the nut I0, while the tongues 43 engage two sides of the nut at right angles to the tongues 42; thus the nut is held effectively in position and against rotation on the arm Il.

The modification of Figs. 7 and 8 illustrates a fastener having th'e same means for attaching it to a plate after it has been .passed through an opening therein, but it differs in that the article receiving portion comprises a loop 50 for receiving an article such as a tube, cable, or similar form indicated in general at Si'. The function ofl the loop is that of exerting a yielding pressure against the article for holding it firmly in place after it attached and that itl will be eectively held against movement with reference thereto until the bolt is inserted therein. y

I claim: l. A fastener comprising. a strip of sheet material ofi'set intermediately to provide two arms, one

' of the arms carrying means to engage a member to be held in place and the other arm having tabs at its lateral edges, a lug projecting from that face of the last-mentioned arm which is adjacent the plane of the other arm, the arm carrying the lug having also a tongue extending across the plane of the other arm but spaced from it, whereby the second-mentioned arm may overlap four margins of a rectangular opening through which the first-mentioned arm may be passed.

2. A fastener comprising a strip of material intermediately 'offset to produce two arms in approximately parallel spaced planes, one arm having an opening through it and having portions of the material of the arm adjacent the opening distorted to provide a helical turnv to coact with the thread of a boit, the other arm having a projection thereon adapted to occupy the opening in -the support through which the flrstmentioned arm may be passed, the arm having the projection being provided withlateral extensions and also with a tongue extending across the plane of the first mentioned arm and spaced therefrom. whereby said second arm may overlap the four margins of a rectangular opening through which the first-mentioned arm may be passed.

- v In the modification of Figs. 5 and 6, the base portion or arm I3 of the fastener is the same as 3. A single piece fastener made of sheet metal offset intermediately to provide two arms, one arm having an opening through it for the passage of a bolt and carrying thread-engaging means about the opening adapted to coact with the thread of the boit, an oifset portion connecting the first to a second arm, the second arm having tabs at itsl opposite lateral edges, causing the second arm in the region of the tabs to be wider than the first arm, said second arm being formed with a tongue cut out of the offset portion and a part of the first arm adjacent thereto, said tongue lying in substantially the same plane as the rest of the second arm so that the second arm may overlap four margins of a rectangular opening through which the first-mentioned arm may be passed, and a lug on the second-mentioned arm adapted to occupy such opening and coact with the edge thereof.

4. A fastener comprising a strip of material intermedi'ately offset to produce two arms in ap'- provided with lateral extensions and also with a l tongue extending across the plane of 'the firstmentioned arm and spaced therefrom, whereby said second arm may overlap the four margins of A the rectangular opening.

GEORGE A. TINNERMAN. 

